Spikezone winning Parx's $75,000 Let's Give Thanks Stakes on Nov. 27 under Mychel Sanchez (Photo by Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO) Spikezone, who overcame a second round of knee surgery to go 11 for 14 as a 5-year-old, has been named the National HBPA’s National Claiming Horse of the Year for 2024. The gelding’s 11 wins [...]
The National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) finds it necessary to address a recent press release picked up by several media outlets regarding decoupling from live racing. The press release from Gulfstream Park ("1/ST") contains inaccuracies pertaining to the Gulfstream horsemen and their affiliation. The NHBPA wishes to clarify that the Gulfstream horsemen’s association is [...]
The interactive, electronic version of The Horsemen’s Journal’s Winter 2024 issue is now available online. It is an enhanced version of the printed magazine, which is currently being mailed. To view it, click here. Features in the issue include: Back to the Bluegrass The Claiming Crown returned to Kentucky for a successful 26th renewal at [...]
Damon Thayer (right) with trainer and Kentucky HBPA President Dale Romans (Photo by Gwen Davis/Davis Innovation) Citizen legislator chapter ends; involvement in industry won’t Damon Thayer on Jan. 1, 2025 ends his 22-year run as a Kentucky State Senator, the last 13 as the Republican Majority Floor Leader, having announced last December [...]
Photo by Gwen Davis/Davis Innovation Dale Romans is the new president of the Kentucky HBPA, following the long tenure of fellow trainer Rick Hiles. Romans was voted president by the newly seated Kentucky HBPA board. The longest continuously serving board member, Romans has been on the HBPA board for most of his training career that began in 1986, [...]
(from Alabama HBPA news release) In response to the announcement of the sale of the Birmingham Race Course (BRC) to PCI Gaming, a subsidiary of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PBCI), Alabama's horsemen and women are expressing cautious optimism for the future of the state’s long-dormant horse racing industry. After more than 25 [...]
Laughing Boy. Photo by Coady Photography (from Churchill Downs news release) Laughing Boy crossed the finish line a half-length back of Surface to Air in Saturday’s $225,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Churchill Downs – the most lucrative of eight starter allowance races on the day for the nation’s top claiming-level horses – [...]
Ghostly Gal (pink saddlecloth). Photo by Coady Photography (from Churchill Downs news release) Two decades after his first Claiming Crown triumph, trainer Wayne Catalano returned to the winner’s circle Saturday when Ghostly Gal upset the $174,500 Claiming Crown Tiara at Churchill Downs. The 6-year-old mare, owned by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, surged late [...]
Owner-trainer Mark Hibdon with Tennessee Moon at Churchill Downs for the Claiming Crown. Photo by Jennie Rees Bad 'Moon' Rising! Tennessee Moon takes 11 wins -- most in America this year -- into Claiming Crown Glass Slipper Mark Hibdon video interview Mark Hibdon, owner-trainer of Tennessee Moon, didn’t know his 4-year-old filly was [...]
Erin Riefenberg with Molly's Rose, then a 2-year-old at Santa Anita. (Photo courtesy Erin Riefenberg) No matter where Molly’s Rose finishes in Saturday’s $150,000 Claiming Crown Tiara, for Lexington-based owner-trainer Erin Riefenberg the 4-year-old filly is a winner just making it to the race at Churchill Downs. Or any race for that matter. "There [...]